The Ultimate Supergroup Was Accidentally Formed in Bob Dylan’s Garage

Published Jul 29, 2026, 5:38 PM EDT Audrey Connelly is a writer living and working in Boston, MA. Music is and has always been one of the most important parts of her life. While rock & roll is her true love, Audrey's taste runs the gamut. Deep cuts, overplayed Billboard Hot 100 hits, trip hop, reggae, musical theater. It's all fair game. However, if she's being totally honest, she is not a huge fan of (most) country music, but she is (mostly) willing to give anything a listen or two. She has previously contributed to Atwood Magazine and has brought her passion for writing and music – specifically classic and alternative rock – to Collider. In the world of happy accidents, the formation of this star-studded supergroup is perhaps the happiest of all. Five huge names in music, each with wildly successful and prolific careers, came together in the late ‘80s to create something incredibly special. Thanks to a series of extremely fortunate events, and the fortuitous availability of Bob Dylan’s home recording studio, a band with unequivocal star-power was formed by happenstance. Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne came together to form the greatest supergroup of all time: the Traveling Wilburys. It All Began with George Harrison Image via Warner Bros. Records So how did all of these famous paths cross? It all began in 1987, when George Harrison (lead guitarist for a little group called The Beatles – you may have heard of them) needed to record a track for the B-side of his upcoming solo album Cloud Nine. He was having dinner with Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison in Los Angeles, and he asked Lynne – producer, writer, and co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra – to help out with the recording. The pair had been collaborating on and off for a while at this point and had a close friendship and working relationship. They invited renowned singer-songwriter Roy Orbison to tag along as well. But there was a problem – there were no studios available at such short notice. Everything was booked solid for the next few days, and this recording session needed to happen ASAP. This issue proved to be quickly surmountable – these were guys with quite a few connections in the industry. Harrison remembered his friend (and one of the greatest songwriters of all time) Bob Dylan had an at-home studio in his garage in Malibu, so he decided to give him a ring. Dylan’s little studio was currently unoccupied – not only did he oblige, he opted to join them for the session. On the way over to the studio, Harrison realized he had left his favorite guitar at another friend’s place, where he had been storing instruments for easy accessibility whenever he was in LA. On the drive over to Dylan’s studio, they decided to make a pit stop and grab it. When they stopped by Tom Petty’s house to pick up the guitar, they figured they might as well invite the legendary musician and frontman of The Heartbreakers to join them in the studio. Just like that, Harrison, Lynne, Orbison, Petty, and Dylan found themselves playing music together in Dylan’s garage. A Match Made in Rock & Roll Heaven Image via Bettmann Archive The five musicians worked together to record the track for Harrison’s album, realizing throughout the process that they not only worked well together, they were also having a blast. The musicians had hung out together in various combinations throughout the years, so they were comfortable working together right from the get-go. Building on the beginnings of a song Harrison had been toying with, the group quickly recorded “Handle With Care” – titled after a label on one of the boxes in the garage. Harrison brought the completed track to the executives at Warner Bros., and they were blown away. The song was simply too good to be a B-side track. They needed to find a better use for such a masterpiece. Harrison and Lynne came up with the idea of forming a new band, composed of all the guys who had collaborated on “Handle With Care.” Petty agreed, quickly followed by Dylan. The creative freedom and good company they had enjoyed during their initial recording made the decision easy. That evening, Harrison, Orbison, and Petty drove down to Anaheim to attend Roy Orbison’s show, after which they approached him in the green room. Orbison agreed as well, and voilà – the group was complete. The odds of all of these musicians having both the time and the desire to form this group are slim to none, yet it all worked out with a shocking level of ease. What's In a Name? Image via PBS Orbison and Dylan both had tour schedules that the group needed to work around – they had nine days to record nine more songs for their debut album. These sessions took place at yet another home studio, this one belonging to producer and musician Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. The five musicians sat in his kitchen every morning, acoustic guitars in hand, and got down to writing. They worked collaboratively, all contributing to writing lyrics and music – each member got a say in the final product. They were having fun and making art, bouncing ideas off each other until the songs began to take shape. They were able to complete the album in a week and a half. The name for the band arrived just as haphazardly as the group’s formation. The moniker was created from a slang term Harrison used to describe faulty recording equipment. When a sonic problem arose, Harrison said, “We’ll bury ‘em in the mix,” which got shortened to “Wilbury." As many of the members had bonded over their love of comedy (specifically Monty Python), they decided to take their silly name a step further. They posed as a group of journeying, musical half brothers, each with their own pseudonym and the shared last name Wilbury. They even recruited Monty Python’s Michael Palin to flesh out the history of these half brothers in the liner notes for the album. The End of The Line The Traveling Wilburys first album, aptly titled The Traveling Wilburys, Vol.1, was released in October 1988 under the group’s new label Wilbury Records, with “Handle With Care” as its lead single. It was a huge success. The album revitalized their careers and was nominated for many awards, even winning the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1990. Sadly, this would be the only album on which all five musicians collaborated – Roy Orbison passed away only a couple of months after its release. The group made a music video for the album’s second single, “End of The Line,” in tribute to their late friend and band member. The remaining Traveling Wilburys would go on to make one more studio album, intentionally mistitled The Traveling Wilburys, Vol.3. Their second and last album was released in 1990. It was dedicated to Roy Orbison, or, as the band called him, Lefty Wilbury. Despite the band’s success, they never toured. The joy in these albums is palpable. The Traveling Wilburys and their two albums are a prime example of how a group of talented friends and lighthearted approach can lead to musical magic. And also, of course, what can happen when five of the greatest minds in music get together in one room. And to think – the greatest supergroup of all time formed completely by accident, recording a B-side track in the garage studio of the most famous American songwriter of all time. Seriously – you can’t write this stuff.